A
handful of county clerks have refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex
couples despite the Supreme Court’s June decision to legalize gay marriage
throughout the country.
Marriage
clerk Kim Davis of Rowan, Kentucky believes that putting her signature on such
a license means that she approves the marriage. When Governor Steve Bashear
ordered her to issue the licenses or quit her job, she took the case to court.
Judge
David Bunning agreed with the governor, ruling that all county clerks must
issue marriage licenses to gay couples – even if that action violates his or
her religious beliefs. “Kim Davis’ religious convictions cannot excuse her from
performing the duties that she took an oath to perform as Rowan County Clerk,”
says the judge.
Kim
responded to this attack on her religious freedom by filing an appeal of the
court’s injunction order. Liberty Counsel attorney Roger Gannam wrote the
following: “A SSM license issued on her authorization and bearing her name and
imprimatur, substantially (and irreparably) burdens her conscience and religious
freedom because it represents endorsement of, and participation in, a proposed
union that is not marriage according to her sincere and deeply held religious
convictions."
Kim
Davis is frustrated that out of the many marriage clerks who share her
opinions, she was the one singled out. According to Judge Bunning, Davis is
free to live her Christian life at home. On the clock, however, she must forget
about it.
Dan
Canon, lawyer on the other side of the case, argues: "It reaffirms the
idea that we've been trying to stress all along, which is that individual
elected officials are not allowed to govern according to their own private
religious beliefs."
Speaking
of religious beliefs, President Obama is under fire for replacing the phrase
“freedom of religion” with “freedom of worship” when speaking of the First
Amendment. He first used the phrase in 2009 and has been using it ever
since.
This
new language has angered many faith leaders, a group of which worked together
to write a letter to the President: "We … write to you with deep concern
about the wording of the answer to question 51 on the study materials for the
civics portion of the naturalization exam. The question asks students to
provide two rights guaranteed to everyone living in the United States, and listed
among the possible correct answers is ‘freedom of worship.’ We write to you
requesting that this answer be immediately corrected to the constitutionally
accurate answer – ‘freedom of religion.”
The
authors of the letter mentioned that in many countries where “freedom of
worship,” is legal, citizens’ religious freedoms are restricted. Senator
James Lankford of Oklahoma believes the president is “misrepresenting” the
First Amendment with this new language. “We in the United States actually have
freedom of religion, not freedom of worship." Kim
Davis is now being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union and has started a
case against Governor Steve Beshear.
Comments
The Gay
Marriage Supreme Court “opinion” is not the law of the land. The US Constitution (as written) is the law
of the land. I don’t remember Congress
adding Gays to the list of “protected classes” under the Civil Rights Act. So, why are citizens sued and fined for
refusing to play.
Freedom
of Association is disappearing. What if
the Supreme Court blessed pedophile rights?
Would Judges order that pedophiles could remove children from their
homes? Giving a subculture the right to exist is one thing. Forcing everybody else to like it is tyranny.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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